The Favorite
by musicnotes093
Summary: This is how villains are made. (Written as an entry for SP's Summer Camp event.) [Modified, re-posted.]


**tw: **_themes of depression and psychological manipulation, some violence, dark and potentially disturbing imagery later._

* * *

He knows his place in the family. He knows he's no one's favorite. His parents like to say that they love all of the children equally, but he knows it's not true.

He's not six anymore. He knows a bedtime story when he hears one.

His mother used to shower him with affection, but after his little sister was born, all of that went to her. His stepfather had always favored Chase; he'd never bothered much to sugarcoat that. Douglas used to like hanging out with him, he thinks, but then when Daniel came into the picture, his patience for him ran dry too.

Even Bree's love for him cooled off in a matter of two years. Afterwards, it's her and Adam who stuck close to each other.

Maybe that's why out of all the children, he had the most friends. His parents always commend him for being so friendly and congenial with almost any kid he meets. That's a good thing, they said, connecting with others.

Friends become connections later on, his stepfather says.

Friends become proof that you were a good person, his mother says.

They told him once over dinner that out of all the children, they were the proudest of him when it comes to the area of being a people person. He's very likeable, and very likeable people succeed in life. That leaves him with many options in the future. He could build his own business, maybe run for office if he wants.

But they don't know that the friends he makes are to replace the hollowness they left in him. He makes friends so he can belong somewhere, anywhere.

Friends that he would disconnect from later on.

Friends that rarely had genuine interest in him as a person.

It kills him, the sadness. It causes him to shrivel inside when the favorites are told they are loved by those who favored them. It reduces his insides to ashes when they turn to him and tell him they love him too – even when he knows they don't.

He floats within the universe that is their family, a stray meteorite that's bound to break down into nothing, and the loneliness gets to him.

Maybe that was why the first sign of extra affection easily grabbed his attention. In the beginning, it was just a neighborly relationship. The apartment he and Adam stayed in during one of their visits with the East Coast teams was right next to hers, and she had been very kind to introduce herself.

Beth, she told them her name was. She had come to them one night while he and Adam were starving with her self-labeled world famous chicken casserole (and as far as he and Adam were concerned that night, it was true to its claim). A woman in her earliest 50's, she told them that she had been seeing them come and go in their new place for about a week now and was concerned about their welfare. She had been curious about the new young tenants in the building and decided that she wanted to get to know them a little bit more.

_You don't know who we are?_ Adam had asked.

_No,_ she said, smiling. She blinked. _Should I know who you are?_

_Uh, yeah? _

He told his brother how rude that had been but as always, Adam didn't care. His interest on getting to know their neighbor began and ended with the casserole she brought.

He, on the other hand, being the people person that he was, maintained a friendly chatter with her throughout the weeks. He learned that the constant care and attention she showed them stemmed from being a mother. _Hopefully it's not coming across as me being weird or nosy,_ she had said.

_You said you're a mom?_

_Oh, yes. I was._

_Was? _

The warm smile on her face faltered. _I had a son. He died a couple of years ago. _

_Oh, I'm so sorry,_ he had said, and from that began a closer, familial relationship between the two of them.

It was nice, how much care she showed. She would cook for them, greet them and ask them how they were whenever they would catch her in the hallway. When Adam got sick, she took good care of him, running back and forth to the store to get whatever her fickle, picky patient needed.

Adam wasn't as close to her as he was, but his older brother made a comment once that it was nice having a neighbor-mom around.

Events took an interesting turn when one of Bree's and Chase's teammates got injured during a fight, and their stepfather decided to call Adam in as temporary proxy. It would only be a few months, his stepfather said. _And you'd be okay there by yourself, Leo. You don't need Adam. _

It was meant to come across as a vote of confidence, but it didn't accomplish that for him. If his stepfather really believed in his abilities, he should have picked him to be part of his most-prized project, however short the term may be.

But even after years and months of breaking his back to prove his worth, their father still didn't see him that way.

What followed was a difficult winter. The cold and the lack of sunlight did horrible things to his brain, and the absence of his brother made him lonely.

Beth, being the mom that she was, seemed to have picked up on his sadness and thus constantly made sure that he was okay. She said she could talk to him about anything; she would not judge him.

At first, he didn't want to take the offer. Giving over his inner thoughts to someone he didn't know that well would be giving them much power over him. But eventually, the sadness choked out all sense and reason. In time, he allowed her to become his confidant.

Her and Harry, actually, the man she had introduced then to be her husband.

A couple of months last longer in the winter, and Adam seemed to have stayed away as long. Thankfully he had Harry and Beth who treated him all that time as if he was their own.

While staying up late one night with Harry, playing the newest video game Beth had gifted him for their anniversary, it came to him that he was happy. Though they may not be his real family, they showered him with much affection. It was enthralling, to be loved like he was special. It was probably what Adam and Daniel and Chase felt. That was probably why they were able to do many great things.

He was so engrossed in this strange but fascinating feeling, so captivated by it, that he shut his eyes to the red flags that subsequently popped up.

The first one was the incident in the middle of spring, a week before Adam came back. For three days, Beth and Harry were unreachable. It's as if they had vanished into thin air. No notes, no phone calls, and not even a message relayed through the other tenants in the building.

Out of his worry, he began searching for them even after filing a missing persons report to the police. The information he had found at Harry's desk took him to a ghost town in New England, in the middle of the woods where for miles there's no one.

His instincts kept telling him then to go back and wait at the apartment instead, but he didn't listen. He cared about Beth and Harry too much, feared for their safety so much, that he was willing to risk his life just to know where they had gone.

The search had taken him to a man who he later on learned is called the Three-Eyed Keeper. Keeper scared him at first. After hours of trekking through the woods and seeing no one, he didn't expect anyone to actually be there. He also didn't look trustworthy in his shabby clothing and unkempt state.

Still, he was a possible source of information. So though he didn't think it would bear much fruit, he inquired about the possibility of him seeing the couple.

Keeper stared at him for the longest. Then, he smiled. _I've been waiting for a long time, _he said.

_What?_

_Do you know why you're here?_

_I told you already: I was looking for my friends._

_No, that's not why, _he said. _You're lonely. That's why you're here._

It had struck him, those words. He hadn't considered himself to be so for a while. That it rang and still hurt like truth bothered him.

_Have you got no friends?_ Keeper asked next.

_Of course I do._

_Family?_

_Yeah._

_People who would miss you if you suddenly cease to exist?_

No words came at that. Despite the strong urge to, he couldn't lie.

_Be careful of the hole in your heart. She's using it to her advantage, _Keeper warned. _It can take you to a place you've never wanted to go._

_She? You mean Beth?_

Keeper pulled out the lower half of his chain necklace from under his shirt. On it hung the four rings. _Many people had been here before, _he said as he drew closer. _But none of them like you._

He emptied the rings onto his palm then offered it to him. The dark bands, ominous under the day's dying light, called to him. They were beautiful, mysterious. He hadn't seen any like it before.

_Space, Time. Joy and Sorrow,_ Keeper introduced each.

_They look cool.  
_  
_Yes. They're all beautiful._ Keeper smiled, nodding at the rings. _Try them on, _he urged.

Intrigued, he did what he was told. He slipped on the rings – Joy, Space, Sorrow, and Time.

_Well?_

_This one is really warm. It's perfect,_ he said of Joy, sitting on his left ring finger. Of Sorrow on the right ring finger, _This one's a bit tight, very cold, but it's not too bad. _

_And what of Space and Time?  
_  
He looked at the rings. _They're kinda freezing. Isolated._ He stared at the bands and noted their color. _Dark. But, they do fit me well._

Keeper smiled, again with that knowing kind. _She's waiting for you to get back._

_Who?_

_Her. The same woman who sent you here._

_Beth? She didn't send me here._

_You have a journey ahead of you, _Keeper cryptically said. _It's best that you go through it. The dark and the cold might be too great in the beginning, but you'll learn to accept them, too. _

_Uh, okay. I guess. _Though confused, he took that as his cue to leave.

Two days later, after Adam came home, Beth was back. She embraced him tightly after she showed up at their door, apologizing to him and telling him that she never meant for him to worry.

_You and Harry disappeared! Of course I'd be worried._

_I know, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. It's just..._

_Just...what? What is it?_

The look of unspoken fear lingered in her eyes. He wanted to ask, but the glance she darted inside their apartment, at Adam, told him she was uncomfortable.

_Where's Harry? _

She glanced at Adam again then pulled him by his arm outside their apartment. It was then she noticed the rings in his left hand.

For a quick moment, her eyes lit up greedily – and that second indicator should have been more than sufficient in revealing her true nature. _I haven't seen those before, _she said.

_Oh, uh, someone gave them to me._

_Someone?_

_I found an address on Harry's desk. I thought it was a friend's house. I went there._

She nodded, and he knows now that it really was a flicker of a smirk that he saw on her face that afternoon. _Do you think you can help me?_

_Help you? What's wrong?_

_Harry. The people he used to work for took him and his invention._

Under the promise that he wouldn't involve Adam about it, Beth told him that Harry had invented a power source that could provide electricity for hundreds of cities. It had been a secret project, one that was supposed to benefit those in poorer countries. His boss had been supportive of it in the beginning.

But then, Harry realized that his invention was in the process of being secretly mass produced, later to be sold to the highest bidder. Seeing the dangers of it all, Harry had run away with the blueprints and the finished prototype. They hid for years, moving from one city to another, but now they have found him.

She told him that it would be dangerous in the wrong hands. She wept as she said that her child had died as a result of it. _I can't lose him too,_ she pleaded with him. _I just can't. _

He was so taken away by the thought of saving the people who saved him that he jumped into action. The stop signs that kept popping up like dandelions he ignored. All he wanted to do was bring back the man who had been like a father to him, back to the woman who had been like his mother.

He just wanted to help.

Adam had told him twice that his attachment to their neighbors had grown into something unhealthy during his absence, but he paid him no mind. What would he know of his situation anyway? He'd always had Bree and their parents. He'd never known what it's like to be him.

So, he searched for Harry – in sneaky ways to avoid suspicion from Adam. He searched for Harry's possible prior places of employment, and he used the Davenport Industries' satellites to scan for places with unusual concentration of energy.

The trail the results led him to shocked him.

However, while he was still working out a decision on whether to tell Beth, his stepfather suddenly called their assignment off and told them to come back to Mission Creek. _Why? _he had asked during the video call.

His stepfather glanced at Adam. _We just think it's better if you two come back._

_Are you guys okay? Is something wrong?_

_It's not us I'm worried about, Leo, _his stepfather said. _Look, just get back here by tomorrow, okay? We'll figure something out. _

That whole situation had been odd. When he expressed his desire to say goodbye to Beth, Adam had been stern in telling him no. Adam never got upset, yet that morning he was determined to be the wall between him and their friend.

Being at the mansion wasn't any better. His stepfather and Adam talked in secret when they think he didn't notice. His mother seemed overtly interested in his assignment when previously, the subject bored her to death.

They were distracting him. They never told him what from, but he knew.

A week later, just as summer has arrived, Bree, Chase, and their team came to Mission Creek for a visit. The trio from the east had been friendly. During the family dinner his stepfather set up, the five of them, plus his stepfather, Douglas, and Adam, spoke of many various things.

They spoke of their adventures, the freak accident Kaz had that resulted into Adam subbing for him. Oliver spoke of his mother, and how eerily quiet she had been for the past year.

Many various things he didn't understand because he was never part of it.

Until: _Good thing it's secure,_ Chase had said. _Can you imagine how much power that thing holds? To be honest, it should've never been invented. _

Power. Invention. _There's an invention like that?_

Skylar nodded. _The Arcturion. It's very powerful._

_Uh – we probably shouldn't talk about that right now,_ his stepfather intervened.

_Is it yours, Big D?_

_Let's not talk about it, _his stepfather repeated, and from his tone everyone understood that it was final.

Beth called him many times through the weeks after they left, but he couldn't call her back out of shame. How could he? Harry used to work for Davenport Industries, and his brother had hinted that they do have the invention in their possession. How could he tell her that his family could be the one holding her husband hostage?

Still, he decided to give his stepfather the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. He would never do something like that.

And through the next few days that he spent with his family, he realized that his stepfather really would never do something like that. Even after years had passed, he was still the same goofy, intelligent, and secretly very caring father he knew him to be. The cold and calculating businessman Beth feared didn't match his father's descriptions.

That was a ray of hope, that one good week. He considered within that time the likelihood that the strangers he'd grown to love as friends might just be lying to him.

But the door of reconciliation shut on his face faster than he could approach it. It only took one conversation for everything to fall apart.

He overheard his stepfather and his uncle talking three nights ago. Among many other things, his stepfather finally acknowledged the reason why he called them back from their assignment. Adam was suspicious of Beth, he said, and it worried him how close he was getting to them.

_What do you expect?_ his uncle had asked. _The kid was by himself. He needed someone. _

_I just don't want him to get too close to them. What if that couple is just taking advantage of Leo? Adam didn't like the woman – and he likes nearly everybody._

_What are you going to do now? The kid will eventually start asking why you're holding them both here._

_I don't know. Maybe I can assign them to patrol the west coast teams?_

_Leo will catch on._

_He won't. _

Douglas reluctantly left it at that. Then, _Donnie?_

_Yeah._

_When are you going to tell him?_

His stepfather understood. _Soon._

_How soon? You're about to make the announcement in three days. How do you think he'll take that?_

_I don't know, okay? I don't know. _He sighed. _He'll have to understand. Chase is the best slated to take the position. He's smart and responsible. He's ready. Leo, he's...he's not. He's still young. He's got a lot of growing to do. It'll be a while until he gets a place in the company._

_But you promised him years ago._

_I didn't promise him anything. _

Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He was so stupid to believe things would change. He would never be enough for them, no matter what he does.

Fueled by sadness and rage, he texted Beth that night with the details he found. Donald Davenport as Harry's former boss, no confirmation yet if Harry's still there. He knows where the invention is. He will find him and bring him home to her.

Still convinced that it was the right thing to do, he focused on finding a convenient way into the secret facility the following days. Activity increased in their house as the day of the big announcement approached. The Centium City team came back, and his stepfather and uncle worked on many things related to the company.

They all concentrated on various other things that it made downloading pertinent restricted information very easy.

Tonight, during dinner out in their backyard, the fact that he was a stranger in his own home became more obvious when his stepfather finally made the announcement. He told the whole family that Chase would be starting work at the company soon as the head of the development team.

_I'm outside, _read a text message from Beth while Chase made his speech.

Confused, he left the safety of his family to investigate the possible presence of the one who chose him.

True to her word, Beth stood in their driveway. _Because I need to find Harry,_ she answered when he asked why she was there.

_They don't want you here, Beth. You're putting yourself in danger._

_I'm safe, honey. No one can put me in danger, _she assured him. _Listen, I need your rings. Can you lend them to me?_

_What?_

_The rings. I need them._

Instinctively, his hands moved behind him. _Why? Why do you –_

_It's the only thing that can protect me! _she blurted out. Then, remembering the supposed friendship between them, she smiled a friendly smile at him. (The predatory look in her eyes terrified him.) _Don't you trust me? I care for you like I cared for my child. Don't you trust me, Leo?_

_I do, but –_

_Mom?_

Turning around, he saw Oliver and the rest of their team, his whole family.

He noted the shock and dread in their faces. _Mom?_ he asked her.

Beth ignored that. _Leo. Give them to me._

_Leo, stay away from her, _Chase ordered.

_She's not a friend,_ Skylar added.

Beth smiled at him. _Honey, please._

_Stay away from him, Mr. Terror,_ Kaz warned.

He looked from them to her. Then, he backed away. _Mr. Terror? _

Beth gave up then. She rolled her eyes and sighed. _You guys had to ruin everything. _She hooked her arm around his throat faster than he could react. She then turned him around, her pawn and leverage in this game he finally realized she played.

_Mom, _Oliver pleaded. _Mom, please let him go. He has nothing to do with this. He's innocent._

_I know, honey. Why do you think I picked him? _

He gasped, coughing as her hold on him tightened. _Beth - Please..._

_My son doesn't know anything, _his stepfather pleaded. _I know what you want. I know where it is. Take me instead._

_Mr. Davenport, no!_

_What you know, he also knows. I got him to find the Arcturion for me. _She sighed. _But he's too loyal. He's too concerned about you that he never told me where it is._

_Even if you find it, you can't use it anymore, _Skylar told Beth. _Contact with it will still kill you._

_I'll take my chances, _Beth told her. _So how about it, Davenport? Where's my Arcturion? Are you gonna tell me now, or do you want to wait until I snap this one in half?_

His stepfather hesitated – and she saw that as her answer.

He saw stars as she tightened her hold on him. He choked, and for a quick second it felt as if the rings in his hands grew warmer by each second he was hurt.

_Stop! Stop it! I'll tell you._ Even as he was gasping for air, he could feel his stepfather's hesitation within those moments. Briefly, he wondered if he would have answered faster if it was Chase in danger and not him. _It's in my underground lab in Greenland._

_Mom, don't,_ Oliver pleaded. _Don't risk your life for it. It already gave you so much. That should be enough._

_No. Nothing's ever enough._

_You'll die, Mr. Terror._

_Very good, Kaz: I _will _die if I touch it. It _will _kill me, unless I have what in my possession? _

The trio thought about it. Then, _The Black K'vean Protostars,_ Kaz answered.

_But only the Three-Eyed Keeper has it,_ Oliver said. _No one has been able to take the rings from him or any of the other keepers. _

Beth chuckled. _Have you given this kid's hands a good look? _

It all came rushing to him as everyone stared at his rings then at him. The man in the woods. The long wait he spoke of. The rings.

His worthiness in keeping them.

He and Beth vanished into a thick cloud of smoke as she laughed, soon resurfacing at a freezing, underground facility. He struggled against her grasp as she dragged him along, but she was a lot stronger than he. Security rushed in to stop her, and he tried to deter her from hurting them, but it was to no avail.

Meanwhile, the rings kept increasing in heat within his fingers.

To his relief and disappointment, they reached the vault that kept the Arcturion. That was the only time she let him go. She came up to it, already forgetting about him, her eyes filled with greed as she marveled at the power source.

She demanded the rings afterwards. She needed them, she said. They didn't belong to him. They were hers.

His family had been right: Beth wasn't who he thought she was. She was never interested in him. He was just a collateral damage to get what she needed. He was disposable.

It hurt him even more when she produced a dagger and told him that she would just take the rings from his dead body. When he asked if Harry knew what she was doing, she laughed at him. _Harry? That was just a shapeshifter I contracted. He wasn't real. But he _was _based on the man I was supposed to marry, only because he was useful to me too. Horace. But he's been dead for years._

Harry didn't exist either. There was never a father who cared about him. Like her, he was just a construct of her plans, of his desire to have parents who loved him deeply.

Maybe the Arcturion is broken as him too because it started cracking. The lines on the glass grew and grew until fragments of its wall shattered open.

He felt it then, when the Arcturion opened: the draw. He had only heard bits and pieces about it - rumors - that he never wondered much before then just how powerful it actually was. Until that moment.

However, its strongest pull is the memories its existence had created. He knew Beth was a lie, and he knew Harry was a lie, too. Still, staring at the purple glow of the rock, he couldn't help but remember Harry. Harry was real; Beth said so herself. And Harry seemed to genuinely care about the Arcturion.

This Arcturion that was breaking down in front of him, the invention that somehow needed him.

They came then, his family and their friends, all ready to fight. It was enough to divert Beth's attention – but not his. Never.

Desperate, Beth grabbed his right hand to pull the rings off his fingers, but a strong force like a magnet's repelled her. It sent her flying, knocking her off.

_Mom!_ Oliver had screamed, rushing to her.

_We need to get out of here!_ Skylar yelled as strong gusts of wind and a purple glow filled the room. _The Arcturion is going to explode!_

_Leo, we have to go!_

Go? Go where? Nothing and no one else needed him outside these walls.

He's home.

_The Arcturion,_ Kaz said to his team. _It's forming a bond with Keeper's rings._

"Leo, listen to me!" Chase screams, shaking him awake into reality. "None of it is real!"

He looks at them through the purple haze forming inside the room. They're all scared – for his safety, for each other's, for themselves. They want him to withdraw. They want him to come back.

But again he feels the strong tug. It confuses him to where home actually is – with them or with the object breaking apart in front of him?

But his family and his acquaintances - they were all alright on their own. They all had each other. Meanwhile, the Arcturion has been stripped of its shield and is now only bones and heart. It's so broken, so undesirable just like him. In this condition, no one else will go to lengths to care for it.

It's just like him in many ways. He used to be loved. He used to be needed. Then years went by, and once he was empty and useless he was left behind.

He's no one's favorite anymore. Not his mother's, not his stepfather's, not his uncle's.

Even his siblings who protected him and valued him in the beginning have grown tired of him.

No one will miss him if he ceased to exist.

So he comes closer to the Arcturion to keep it company.

"Adam, don't!"

He turns back in time to see Adam shoot a laser at him. However, it bounces against the haze, only to head straight to the cracked globe of the Arcturion.

He tried to shield it from harm, but the shot is faster. That's all it took for the power source to shatter into bits and shrapnel and release an incredible amount of energy.

Being the closest, he absorbed the full impact of everything. He feels as if he had been hit by a train running hundreds of miles a minute. Intense heat burns through every strip of flesh and every bone in his body. As it does, an unnameable something builds within him, something he has never felt before.

Before he can process everything, he blacks out from the damage of it all.

Then somehow, after a long time, a nightmare in black and white unfolds before him.

Haze clouds the room he's in, and as it clears he sees people, all sprawled on the ground unconscious. He walked towards them, examining them one by one until he finds someone familiar.

Beth. She's barely breathing but is still alive. A purple smoke surrounded her, the only thing of color in the room – a borrowed cloak of protection.

_You have something that belongs to me,_ he says. He holds out his hand then pulls the haze from over her, the fluid fabric swinging upwards then vanishing into his fingertips.

Afterwards, he sees the same cloud on three other people: two boys, one girl.

It's all his. So, he collects them.

He's just touched the third purple cloud when his periphery alerted him to a movement. Turning, he sees one of the bodies had woken up, lifting his head then his whole body from the ground.

The man, young but still older than he, stares at him. _Leo?_

He blinks at the faceless human. Then, he chuckles, finding him amusing. _Who? _

He slowly gets back on his feet, and everything dissolves into a cloud of black smoke. Once it clears, he finds himself standing in the middle of the woods.

The smile on his face vanish as he observes the scene. He knows the place. He was just here weeks ago.

It's where Keeper had been the last time they spoke. Only now, Keeper is nowhere to be found.

He looks around and watches the shadows shifting around the forest. Though darkened by the night, there's color everywhere - unlike the dream he just had. He can smell the scent of the pines and of wet leaves drenched by the rain. He feels the humid summer breeze upon his skin. This is all just a dream, right?

Right?

Or has it all been real all along?

_The dark and the cold might be too great, but you'll learn to accept them, too,_Keeper has told him.

As he walks the placid woods darkened by the peaceable night, he decides that Keeper's right. With only the warmth of the Arcturion's raw energy pulsing within him, it comes to him that for right now, he's fine with this warped reality and the isolation.


End file.
